Enforcing a Court’s Award  

Winning a case may be worthless unless the court’s award (i.e., a judgment given in favour of the winning party, ordering the losing party to pay a sum of money, also known as a “judgment debt”) can be fully recovered from the losing party. There are several ways to enforce a judgment debt. We shall briefly explain some of the more important ones below.   

Writ of Execution  

A Plaintiff who obtained a court’s award may apply for a Writ of Execution to be issued against the Defendant. The Writ directs the court bailiff to attend the Defendant’s premises to seize the personal property belonging to the Defendant. After seizure, a security guard will be stationed to watch over the seized property. If the Defendant still fails to repay the judgment debt in 7 days, those properties will be sold by public auction and the proceeds will be used to repay the Defendant’s debts and the costs of the execution.   

Charging Order  

A Charging Order can be obtained against the Defendant’s real property and securities and such order can be registered in the Land Registry or the Companies Registry. Its nature is similar to a mortgage created by a borrower in favour of a lender. If the Defendant still fails to repay the judgment debt, the Plaintiff may sell the property or securities for repayment.   

Attachment of Debts  

Sometimes the Defendant himself may be owed money by his own debtors. In such case, the Plaintiff may apply for an order to attach the debt owed to the Defendant. The most common case is an order to attach the deposit in the bank accounts of the Defendant. The debtors must then pay the debts owed to the Defendant directly to the Plaintiff so as to satisfy the judgment debt.   

Prohibition Order  

A reluctant debtor may leave Hong Kong for Mainland China or other places to avoid his creditors. A Plaintiff may apply for an order to stop the Defendant from leaving Hong Kong. A Prohibition Order is initially effective for one month but may be extended for further two months.   

Bankruptcy and Winding- Up  

This will be the last resort because in a bankruptcy or winding-up the Defendant’s assets will have to be shared proportionally among all creditors. In the case of bankruptcy the Defendant will have all his debts discharged after his bankruptcy order is discharged (normally after four years of bankruptcy). Of course, for those who do not wish to face bankruptcy or have his company being wound-up, a petition for bankruptcy or winding-up could be an effective means to enforce a judgment.